Chapter 67

Chapter 67
She called Matteo when she finished and gave him a list of Marco’s men and asked him to deliver to them the bags. Matteo read one of the notes and he smirked.

“The boss is not going to like that, so I am rushing to share them out, before he can stop me” he said.

“What is it that I won’t like?” Marco asked as he walked in the kitchen.

“That’s my cue to leave” Matteo said and picked up all the bags quickly. “Boss, Lady Boss” he nodded to Marco and Melina and left.

“What was he talking about?” Marco asked Melina.

“I prepared a Thanksgiving bag for some of your men with a slice of pumpkin pie, a bottle of mulled wine, a bottle of spiced apple cider and a note. I assume he thought you wouldn’t like the note” Melina replied and gave Marco one of the notes she had spared.

“Oh Amore, I know it’s a nice thought and everything, but they will think I have gotten soft. That’s not a good quality in a ‘Crime Lord’ as you call me”

“Boo we both know that no one will ever believe that this note was from you. I was just being inclusive and added your name in the card”

Marco was about to protest some more, but the doorbell rang, and Melina left him there standing. Melina returned with Marco’s parents and the four of them decided to have some coffee and relax, before they had to make the final preparations for dinner.

Soon the time came, and Melina and Marco went to change for dinner. Sophia was overseeing things in the kitchen, while Melina was getting ready. Once Melina was back, they started setting the table and soon Alessio and Matteo arrived with Gio and his family following shortly after.

Melina answered the door and welcomed Gio and his family warmly. Once Gio took a step he froze. Melina followed his gaze to Marco, who was looking at him with a murderous look. Melina rolled her eyes.

“Boo, you are the host tonight, so act like it. You asked me to invite Gio, so be nice please!

Marco moved his gaze from Gio to Melina, while she walked to him. 

“You promised me you will be nice” Melina whispered.

Gio and his family walked to them and Gio extended his hand to Marco, who reluctantly took it.

“Thank you for training Melina. You have done a descent job with her” Marco said awkwardly.

“Descent? Just descent?” Melina asked. “I threw you on your back, didn’t I?” 

Alessio started laughing along with Luca. “She threw you on your back? Oh man, I wish I could had seen that”

“I don’t know why you are laughing?” Gio said. “She would pin your sorry ass on the floor within 5 minutes, and she wouldn’t even break a sweat doing it”

“Pfff please! Gio you are good and everything, but you can’t work miracles in a space of two months” Alessio said.

“Why don’t we put a wager or it?” Luca said. “Tomorrow morning, we can test if Melina can pin Alessio down in 5 minutes”

“Why wait until tomorrow?” Alessio asked.

“How about you leave my girlfriend alone or I will pin your sorry ass on the floor?” Marco said.

“Boo, I can do it. And Alessio is right. Why wait until tomorrow?” Melina asked. “Let’s do it right now. It will take less than 5 minutes anyway”

Alessio moved towards her, trying to pin her on the floor quickly, but Melina was quicker. She ran behind him, kick him behind the knees, making him kneel on the floor, twisted his nipple and softly kicked his crotch. When Alessio screamed in pain on the floor, lying on his stomach, she kneed on his back quickly,

“Awww…that was even less than a minute, right?” Melina said and stood up.

Everyone was laughing and Alessio looked genuinely shocked.

“You played dirty” he whined.

“Hey! I am a small, weak, little girl. Playing dirty is all I have” Melina replied and another round of laughs went around.

They sat on the table and Melina and Sophia started bringing all the foods out. Everything smelled heavenly and Melina was very happy with the outcome. Once the turkey was placed on the table, Melina offered the carving knife to Marco.

Once the carving of the turkey was done, Melina raised her glass.

“In the spirit of the holiday that it is today, I would like to thank you all for being here tonight and I would like to share a few things that I am grateful for. I am grateful that this year I made the scariest decision in my life, and I landed here, amongst all of you, feeling loved and a great sense of belonging. I am thankful to all of you. Gio, I am thankful to you for believing in me and helped me realise that weak is only a state of mind. Matteo, thank you for being my friend, who always watches me, even when I think no one does. Alessio, thank you for being my new annoying older brother. I thought having an annoying younger brother was enough, until I met you. Sophia and Luca, thank you for embracing me as part of your family from the very beginning. I miss my family every day, but you make this pain a little easier. Finally, Marco, my love, I am thankful to you for allowing me to be myself and you loving me like that. My life has come upside down since I moved in Los Angeles and if it wasn’t for you, catching me every time I fell, I don’t know where I would be now”

They all went around and shared their thanks. Before they finished, it was little Bianca’s turn. 

“I am thankful to Marco” Bianca said and walked from her seat to Marco’s. She gave him a hug with her small arms and a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for saving me and my mommy and thank you for letting my daddy spend more time with us”

At that moment, Marco realised that he could not blame Gio anymore. He didn’t know how he would have acted if he was in his shoes and just like that, he let go of his anger. He stood from his chair and walked Bianca back to hers. He extended his hand to Gio, who shook it and they shared a long eye stare, saying to each other what they wouldn’t say with words.

Melina witnessed the interaction and rolled her eyes. “Men” she exclaimed.